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By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sports writer
POSTED: 10:30 p.m. EST, Nov 22, 2008
COLUMBUS: Based on a belief that fans demand such rankings, it's almost a job requirement for sports writers to place each notable team in its proper niche.
Ohio State is one of those teams. It has been for more than a half century. The Buckeyes' football program is rife with ritual and mythical achievements. So now that the 2008 regular season is over, it's time to put this club in perspective. Just what kind of a football machine is it?
We start with the premise that like all Buckeyes groups under the tutelage of coach Jim Tressel, this one is some variety of powerhouse.
As expected, the Buckeyes took apart Michigan 42-7 on Saturday in what might go down in Big Ten annals as the least-eminent contest in the rivalry's 105-game history. But don't blame OSU for that.
The Wolverines began the day with more losses than any Michigan team since the inception of football at Ann Arbor, adding a ninth defeat against the Buckeyes to scrape more icing off the Michigan cake. Tressel has beaten the Wolverines seven times in eight years, including five in a row, an unprecedented accomplishment for an Ohio State coach.
In the process, the Buckeyes won their fourth consecutive Big Ten championship but will have to share it with Penn State, which beat OSU a month ago.
As far as Chris Wells is concerned, this team did what it was supposed to do.
''We got it, the Big Ten championship,'' he said after running for 134 yards and one touchdown. ''Whatever comes after that is a blessing. I feel like we finished on top.''
But as Bill Clinton might say, ''That depends on what on top is.'' When the season began, winning a league title was only the first step in the minds of most fans and probably all of the players. The goal was more like national championship or bust.
And bust it was only three weeks into the season, when Southern Cal shocked Buckeyes nation with an embarrassingly easy 35-3 win. Adjustments were made, not only in personnel (Terrelle Pryor began his tenure at quarterback), but also in expectations. Yet even lowered hopes had to be downsized when Pryor's fumble led directly to the loss to the Nittany Lions.
Sharing a Big Ten title and beating Michigan became very much of a consolation prize. And when the Wolverines shut down the OSU attack (minus-14 yards on nine plays) for the first eight minutes of the opening quarter Saturday, tongues began to wag.
Wells stopped the negative speculation with a 59-yard touchdown run 3:57 from the end of the quarter, but the Buckeyes' offense continued to alternate between spectacular and nonexistent for the rest of the game.
Of Ohio State's 416 net yards, 238 came on five plays. Another 80 ensued on Ray Small's punt return that set up an 8-yard touchdown pass to Brian Robiskie. That means that 318 yards were produced in about 90 seconds of a 60-minute game. The rest of the time, the Buckeyes mostly were treading water or were busy stopping Michigan.
Tressel had an explanation for the erratic play on the offensive side.
''If you watched their films, the teams they played did not run four yards, five yards, four yards, five yards,'' he said. ''They either ran minus-one or hit big ones, whether it was run or pass.''
Obviously, it's hard to find fault with 42-7, even if one touchdown was set up by a long punt return and the last by a fumble that OSU recovered on the Wolverine 22.
Pryor, the gifted freshman, did not rise to the occasion in his first Michigan game, connecting on only only 5-of-13 passes for 120 yards, two touchdowns and an early interception. The Wolverines' defense also held him to negative-seven yards rushing. Aren't exceptional athletes supposed to play heroic roles in big games? Maybe next year or the year after that.
Then again, Pryor's performance Saturday was typical of the Buckeyes' season. One of the manifest characteristics of this team has been the lack of sustained excellence on either side of the ball. A hard-fought victory on the road against Wisconsin was followed by a too-close win against distinctly mediocre Purdue.
Lackluster early season victories against overmatched Ohio University and Troy State were overlooked at the time because of a supposed lack of motivation. But how motivated does an excellent team have to be to overwhelm those kinds of opponents on home turf?
So despite a conference title and a 10-2 record, this is hardly a great team that just didn't get the breaks.
If the Buckeyes disagree, they have one more chance to prove their point, possibly in a BCS bowl game.
But if you are an Ohio State fan, you know that BCS bowl games can be fearful things to watch. Many folks already are practicing by watching the Browns with one eye closed.
Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com.
COLUMBUS: Based on a belief that fans demand such rankings, it's almost a job requirement for sports writers to place each notable team in its proper niche.
Ohio State is one of those teams. It has been for more than a half century. The Buckeyes' football program is rife with ritual and mythical achievements. So now that the 2008 regular season is over, it's time to put this club in perspective. Just what kind of a football machine is it?
We start with the premise that like all Buckeyes groups under the tutelage of coach Jim Tressel, this one is some variety of powerhouse.
As expected, the Buckeyes took apart Michigan 42-7 on Saturday in what might go down in Big Ten annals as the least-eminent contest in the rivalry's 105-game history. But don't blame OSU for that.
The Wolverines began the day with more losses than any Michigan team since the inception of football at Ann Arbor, adding a ninth defeat against the Buckeyes to scrape more icing off the Michigan cake. Tressel has beaten the Wolverines seven times in eight years, including five in a row, an unprecedented accomplishment for an Ohio State coach.
In the process, the Buckeyes won their fourth consecutive Big Ten championship but will have to share it with Penn State, which beat OSU a month ago.
As far as Chris Wells is concerned, this team did what it was supposed to do.
''We got it, the Big Ten championship,'' he said after running for 134 yards and one touchdown. ''Whatever comes after that is a blessing. I feel like we finished on top.''
But as Bill Clinton might say, ''That depends on what on top is.'' When the season began, winning a league title was only the first step in the minds of most fans and probably all of the players. The goal was more like national championship or bust.
And bust it was only three weeks into the season, when Southern Cal shocked Buckeyes nation with an embarrassingly easy 35-3 win. Adjustments were made, not only in personnel (Terrelle Pryor began his tenure at quarterback), but also in expectations. Yet even lowered hopes had to be downsized when Pryor's fumble led directly to the loss to the Nittany Lions.
Sharing a Big Ten title and beating Michigan became very much of a consolation prize. And when the Wolverines shut down the OSU attack (minus-14 yards on nine plays) for the first eight minutes of the opening quarter Saturday, tongues began to wag.
Wells stopped the negative speculation with a 59-yard touchdown run 3:57 from the end of the quarter, but the Buckeyes' offense continued to alternate between spectacular and nonexistent for the rest of the game.
Of Ohio State's 416 net yards, 238 came on five plays. Another 80 ensued on Ray Small's punt return that set up an 8-yard touchdown pass to Brian Robiskie. That means that 318 yards were produced in about 90 seconds of a 60-minute game. The rest of the time, the Buckeyes mostly were treading water or were busy stopping Michigan.
Tressel had an explanation for the erratic play on the offensive side.
''If you watched their films, the teams they played did not run four yards, five yards, four yards, five yards,'' he said. ''They either ran minus-one or hit big ones, whether it was run or pass.''
Obviously, it's hard to find fault with 42-7, even if one touchdown was set up by a long punt return and the last by a fumble that OSU recovered on the Wolverine 22.
Pryor, the gifted freshman, did not rise to the occasion in his first Michigan game, connecting on only only 5-of-13 passes for 120 yards, two touchdowns and an early interception. The Wolverines' defense also held him to negative-seven yards rushing. Aren't exceptional athletes supposed to play heroic roles in big games? Maybe next year or the year after that.
Then again, Pryor's performance Saturday was typical of the Buckeyes' season. One of the manifest characteristics of this team has been the lack of sustained excellence on either side of the ball. A hard-fought victory on the road against Wisconsin was followed by a too-close win against distinctly mediocre Purdue.
Lackluster early season victories against overmatched Ohio University and Troy State were overlooked at the time because of a supposed lack of motivation. But how motivated does an excellent team have to be to overwhelm those kinds of opponents on home turf?
So despite a conference title and a 10-2 record, this is hardly a great team that just didn't get the breaks.
If the Buckeyes disagree, they have one more chance to prove their point, possibly in a BCS bowl game.
But if you are an Ohio State fan, you know that BCS bowl games can be fearful things to watch. Many folks already are practicing by watching the Browns with one eye closed.
Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com.
Comments
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Akron, OH
Posted 08:30 AM, 11/23/2008
"Beanie" Wells was nice. Welcome to the NFL, Mr. Wells.
Posted 03:57 PM, 11/29/2008
Beanie better stay at OSU another year to prove he is not injury prone!! But he won't and I don't blame him for taking the money!!!